Gone are the days where a SMP system requires you to buy two(usually identical) processors, each with their own cooling requirements.Dual Core eliminates this by simply living up to its name - one processorhas two physical cores rather than one, and while at the present time a X2processor from AMD does indeed seem to cost twice as much as a standardAthlon64 of similar single core power, in due time the fact Dual Coreeliminates the need to use two sets of pin configurations and otherprocessor material will drive SMP system costs down even further. If thereever was a time where SMP systems would develop into a standard in the PCworld, this is it, providing both AMD and Intel continue to drive theseproducts.